Dems pin hopes on candidate who's no liberal

Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, September 17, 2006

2006-09-17 04:00:00 PDT Chattanooga, Tenn. -- To win back the Senate in November, Democrats need a victory here by a candidate who voted for the war in Iraq, opposes same-sex marriage, backed a ban on a form of late-term abortion, wants to cut the estate tax and would allow prayer in schools.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a 36-year-old Memphis Democrat and charismatic black politician who has been compared to a young Bill Clinton, is a far cry from Nancy Pelosi -- in fact, he challenged her for minority leader in 2002, claiming the San Francisco congresswoman was too liberal.

But Democrats nationwide now see Ford as a candidate who offers a prime opportunity for the party to win one of six seats they need to regain control of the Senate. Recent polls show Ford running even with Republican Bob Corker in the race to succeed Senate GOP Leader Bill Frist.

Political analyst Jennifer Duffy, who handicaps races for the Cook Political Report, said Democrats have a good shot at winning close Senate races in Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Rhode Island and Missouri. Tennessee could be the last piece they need.

"It ends up being the seat that may stand between the Democrats and the majority," Duffy said.

Ford is running in a good year to be a Democrat, but in a state that hasn't treated his party kindly in recent years. The state's pro-gun, socially conservative voters haven't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1990. Tennessee backed George W. Bush in the last two presidential elections. Democrat Al Gore would have been president if he hadn't lost his home state in 2000.

Democrats hope Ford can begin to reverse their decline in the South, where they lost five Senate seats in 2004, shoring up the Republicans' 55-44-1 majority.

But Ford, who represents the state's only majority-black congressional district, knows he's carrying an added weight: his race. If elected, he would be the first African American senator from the South since Reconstruction. Though 17 percent of state residents are black, it's an untested proposition whether the white majority in this proudly Confederate state will rally behind him.

In an interview, Ford made light of the race issue. "Black guys are undefeated in Tennessee in statewide races. We've never won one, but we're undefeated because nobody's ever ran."

But he adds that he doesn't think race will be a major issue with voters. "I have great faith in the people of Tennessee. They are going to pick the person who can do the job for them," he said.

Tennessee political observers predict the race will be close, expensive and extremely negative. With the fate of the Senate at stake, Democratic and Republican Senate campaign committees are already airing attack ads.

"If it turns out Tennessee looks like it could be the sixth state and Democrats could take control of the Senate, you'll see a flood of 527 groups pouring money into the state," said John Geer, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, referring to the shadowy outside groups, run by operatives of both parties, that can spend unlimited sums running attack ads.

Ford faces a tough challenge in Corker, the former Chattanooga mayor who defeated two more conservative opponents, former Congressmen Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant, in the Aug. 3 GOP primary. Corker, a trim and silver-haired 54-year-old who made a fortune in real estate and became Hamilton County's largest private land owner, spent more than $2 million of his own money to win the primary and may dip into his personal funds again before November.

At a Labor Day picnic at Camp Dixie near Chattanooga, hosted by Republican Rep. Zach Wamp, Corker, in a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up, shook hands with a friendly crowd of east Tennesseans who mostly shared his conservative views. One man wore a T-shirt with a cartoonish Uncle Sam and the words, "I want you to learn to speak English. Comprende?"

During a 10-minute stump speech, Corker telegraphed his strategy: to portray Ford as a liberal who's spent most of his life in Washington and link him to people conservatives loathe, such as Sens. Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy. Corker noted repeatedly that Ford, the son of former Rep. Harold Ford Sr., had lived in Washington since he was 9 years old and attended the elite St. Albans School, contrasting that with Corker's life as a self-made businessman in Tennessee.

"There's only one issue in this race, and that is that Congressman Ford is out of touch with Tennessee," Corker told the crowd. "He is controlled by the Northeast liberal establishment."

Political analysts say Ford has shifted more to the center in recent years in preparation for a statewide run. But his overall voting record is that of a moderate Democrat, not a liberal, said Vanderbilt's Geer.

"He's voted for a ban on gay marriage, voted for an amendment banning flag burning," Geer said. "He's not going to be easy to tag as a liberal."

Ford was first elected to Congress in 1996 at age 26, campaigning for the seat his father held for 22 years while still finishing his final year of law school at the University of Michigan. Democrats saw him as a rising star, with a polished speaking style and a look that put him on People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" list in 2001. But his political image suffered after his failed run against Pelosi when some House colleagues said he was too ambitious and not a team player.

Scandals involving Ford's family members, who have run a powerful political machine in Memphis for decades, also may hurt his chances. Republicans have highlighted the federal bribery case against his uncle, state Sen. John Ford. Ford's father was acquitted in 1993 of charges of taking illegal loans from supporters. The election of his aunt, Ophelia Ford, to the state Senate was voided because of illegal behavior by poll workers, although she was not implicated.

Ford confronts the scandal issue head on, asking crowds at events to remember that he's on the ballot, not his family.

Corker also is facing scrutiny over a lawsuit alleging that his company sold land to Wal-Mart next to a nature preserve, which environmentalists say ruined the creekside environment. Corker, who tried unsuccessfully to delay his deposition in the case until after the election, claims the suit is politically motivated.

Ford hopes to beat Corker by making the race a referendum on the Republican Congress and the president, who recently raised money in Nashville for Corker. Bush's popularity in Tennessee, as elsewhere, has fallen over concerns about the Iraq war, immigration and the economy.

"If Tennessee voters are satisfied with the direction we're headed, they're going to choose Bob Corker. If they believe America can be a lot better than we are today, voters are going to vote for me," Ford said.

To win, Ford will need to cut into Corker's advantage in heavily Republican east Tennessee, rally his own base in Memphis and win over conservative Democrats in rural west Tennessee. The battleground for both candidates will be the fast-growing suburbs around Nashville, whose moderate voters could swing the election.

One such area is Franklin, a historic town in Williamson County that was once a hub of Tennessee's plantation economy and the site of one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles. A monument honoring Confederate soldiers still dominates the town's center -- a plaque reads, "The glories they won shall never die" -- though it's now flanked by a trendy home design store and a chain restaurant, the Mellow Mushroom pizzeria.

Pat Poythress, a 69-year-old retired BellSouth manager, sitting on a park bench reading the local paper, said he's a conservative who's grown disillusioned with Bush and the GOP Congress over issues such as immigration and deficit spending. He calls Ford "a very intelligent-talking and nice- looking young man" but said he's read enough about Ford's family to make him uneasy.

"I'm a little skeptical of Ford's political connections," Poythress said. "Between him and his uncle and the family, they pretty much have Memphis locked up."

Across the street, Anthony Pethy, a banker at First Tennessee Bank, was taking his lunch break. An African American originally from Illinois, he said he believes Tennesseans may be ready for a black U.S. senator, as long as it's someone who shares the state's conservative values.

"I don't want to say race isn't an issue. It's always been an issue," Pethy said. "But I think Ford's got a shot to win, just as much as Corker."

Seeking the Senate

Republicans face a tough task defending their seats in these six states against Democratic candidates. Democrats say wins in all six, which would mean defeating five incumbents and winning the open seat in Tennessee, could give them a majority in the Senate, now controlled by Republicans 55-44-1. Republicans, however, are providing strong challenges to win Democratic seats in New Jersey and Minnesota.

Harold Ford Jr.

Born: May 11, 1970,

Memphis, Tenn.

Career: Member of Congress, 1996 to present; special assistant at the Commerce Department, 1993; staffer for the Senate Budget Committee, 1992; member of the Clinton-Gore transition team.

Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Pennsylvania, 1992; law degree, University of Michigan, 1996.

Family: Single

Party: Democratic

Quote: "I'm not going to be an echo chamber for the president. I'm going to support him when he's right, which I have done, and oppose him when he's wrong."

CORKER backs the administration's policy and says U.S. military commanders should decide when troops can return.

Immigration

FORD says the United States must first secure its border with Mexico before Congress approves any new program for illegal immigrants to gain legal status citizenship.

CORKER wants a border fence in urban areas and new surveillance in remote areas. He backs a plan by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, under which illegal immigrants would return home voluntarily and then apply to return legally.

Sources: National Journal, U.S. Census Bureau, Chronicle staff report

Tennessee at a glance

Expert's view: "It's a state where Republicans have done pretty well. Although they didn't win the governor's race in '02, they've won Senate races pretty easily over the last decade, and the state's gone twice in a row for Republicans at the presidential level. ... It should be a seat they hold, but it's competitive."

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